TAB 



The inhabitants, however, have good farms wcll-ftockL-d 

 with cattle, which fell to good advantage. Tiiey liave alfu 

 great plenty of Indian corn and cocoa-nuts, wliich they 

 fend to Vera Cruz. Moll: of the country is flat and molll, 

 has many marlhes and lakes well-llocked with fifli. It niins 

 nine months out of the twelve, fo that the air is exceffively 

 damp ; and in February, March, and April, remarkably 

 hot, when infinite fwarms of gnats and other infefts are pro- 

 duced. The coaft, from the beginning of September to 

 the end of March, is fubjeft to tempeftuous northerly winds, 

 which render failing dangerous during that feafon. The 

 Spaniards brought hither vines, lemon, orange, and fig 

 trees, which ail thrive here very well. Here are large 

 tiiickets of mangroves and bamboos, and woods of cedar, 

 Brafil wood, &c. frequented by lions, tigers, wild bears, 

 and deer. They have a great number of rabbits, apes, and 

 fquirrels, with the common fruits of America ; and three 

 or four hai-vefts of maize in a year ; befides rice, barley, 

 and all forts of garden-herbs, different fpccies of European 

 fowls, and others to us unknown. This province was ac- 

 cuftomed to pay its tribute to the ancient kings of Mexico 

 in chocolate. 



Tabasco, a river of North America, which runs into 

 the bay of Campeachy, N. lat. i8° 15'. W. long. 93° 40'. 

 On the banks of this river are fome of the largelt cabbage 

 and cotton trees fuppofed in the world. 



Tabasco, a town of Mexico, and capital of a province, 

 to which it gives name, called alfo by the Spaniards " Nuef- 

 tra Sennora de la Vittoria," from a great viftory obtained 

 here by Cortez, on his firft arrival. It ftands on an ifland, 

 at the mouth of the river Grijalva, which divides itfelf near 

 the fea into tw© branches, of which the weftern falls into 

 the river Tabafco, which rifes in the mountains of Chiapa ; 

 and the other continues its courfe till within four leagues of 

 the fea, where it fubdivides, and feparates the ifland above 

 mentioned from the continent. Near it are plains, which 

 abound with cattle and other animals, particularly the 

 mountain-cow, fo called from its refembling that creature, 

 and feeding on a fort of mofs found on the trees near great 

 rivers. The ifland of Tabafco, on which the town of that 

 name is built, is about I2 leagues long and 25 broad. The 

 town is not very large, but well-built, and confiderably en- 

 riched by a conftant refort of merchants and tradefmen at 

 Chriftmas. N. lat. 18° 20'. W. long. 93° 46'. 



TABASHEER, in Mcdiane, a drug of high repute in 

 many parts of the Eaft, the knowledge of which has been 

 communicated to the weftern world by the works of the 

 Indian phyficians, by all of whom it is mentioned as an 

 important article in the Materia Medica ; and it is ftill con- 

 fidered to be adminiflered under this and other names in 

 Turkey and in various parts of India. The Arabian medical 

 writers generally agree, that the Tabafheer is a produftion 

 of the Indian reed. The genuine Tabafheer, according to 

 Dr. Patrick RufTell (Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixxx. p. 275.) is 

 undoubtedly a produftion of the Arundo Bambos of Lin- 

 nsEUS ; and the bamboo in which it is found, is vulgarly 

 called the female bamboo, and diflinguifhed by the large- 

 nefs of its cavity from the male, employed for fpears and 

 lances. The bamboo, however, yields this drug only in a 

 fmall quantity, varying according to the foil or fituation in 

 which the bamboo grows. For a farther account of it, we 

 refer to the Phil. Tranf. ubi fupra. See Arundo. 



TABASO, in jincient Geography, a town of India, on 



this fide of the Ganges, between Bynda and Pfeudofiomus. 



Ptol. 



V . TABASSERAN, in Geography, a diftrift of the trad of 



land fituated along the Cafpian fea, between the rivers Terek 



TAB 



and Kur, and one of the divifions of the province of Daghcf-- 

 tan, dependent on Perfia. It lies between the Durbach and 

 Rubas, towards their fources ; extending about fix German 

 miles inland from .ibove the territory of Derhent as far as the 

 higheft ridge of the I>efgian mountains, which is here very 

 rocky and woody. Rcineggs calculates the ftrength of the 

 different tribes inhabiting TabafTeran, who, befides the Tar- 

 tarian, fpeak another language peculiar to thcmfelves, at 

 about 10,000 families : and, according to him, the reigning 

 family have held the fovereignty over the country for more 

 than 600 years. See Reineggs' General Hiftorico-topogra- 

 phical Defcription of Caucafus, &c. The town of Tabaf- 

 feran is the refidence of a prince, and the centre of the 

 trade carried on between Perfia and Dagheflan. 



TABAXIR, in Botany, pronounced Tahajheer, appears 

 to be a Perfian name, appropriated to the Bamboo, Arundo 

 Bambos of Linnaeus, or rather originally to an internal fccre- 

 tion of the ftem of that plant. This is at firfl of a milky 

 afpeft, but fubfcquently concretes into a folid form, and very 

 hard fubflance, compared to fugar, but more like fand or 

 pebbles, being indeed a real filiceous earth. The difcovcry 

 of its true nature was made by Mr. Maeie, now Smilhfon, 

 and pubhfhed in the PhilofophicaFTranfaftions for 1 791, 

 vol. viii. p. 368. See Arundo, and Taba.siif.er. 



TABAZET, a word ufed by fome writers to exprefs 

 highly-refined fugar. 



TABBAJEE, in Geography, a town of Africa, in Neola. 

 S.lat. 13° 32'. W.long. 11° 8'. 



TABBAY, one of the Weftern iflands of Scotland, 

 near the eaft coaft of Skye. N. lat. 57° 16'. W. long. 



TABBY, a mixture of ftone and mortar, which becomes 

 as hard as a rock, ufed in Morocco. The walls of the city 

 are formed of this fubftance. 



Tabby, in Co 



u 



a kind of thick filk, ufually wa- 



tered. It ,is manufaftured like the common taffety, ex- 

 cepting that it is ftronger and thicker both in the woof 

 and warp. 



The watering is given it by means of a calender, the rolls 

 of which are of iron, copper, or wood, which, bearing un- 

 equally on the ftuff, render the furface of it unequal, fo as 

 to refleft the rays of light differently. 



TABBYING, or Watering, the palling afhiff under a 

 calender, to make the reprefentation of waves on it as on 

 a tabby. It is ufual to tabby mohairs, ribbands, &c. Tab- 

 bying is performed without the addition of any water, or 

 dye ; and furnifhes the modern philofophers with a ftrong 

 proof that colours are only appearances. 



TABE, in Geography, a river of PrufTia, proceeding from 

 the Niemen, and running into the Curifch-Haff. 



TABEA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia Minor, 

 in the Greater Phrygia. Strabo. 



TABEIPILLY, in Geography, a town of Hindooflan, 

 in Myfore ; 25 miles W.N. W. of Bangalore. 



TABELLA, or Tablet, Tabularium, in Pharmacy, a 

 folid kind of eledluary, or confeftion, made of di-y ingre- 

 dients, ufually with fugar, and formed into httle flat mor- 

 fules, or fquares, more ufually called lozenges, and fomctimes 

 morfelli, troches, &c. 



Powders, fruits, falts, &c. are diflblved with fugar, and 

 made into taiuU, as thofe of the juice of liquorice for colds, 

 &c. 



We have cordial, Jlnmachic, aperitive, and hepatic tablets. 

 Jellies and broths are fometimes reduced into a f)rt of 

 tablets, to be carried in the pocket, and called packet- 

 f'lup. TabelU manus Chrijli are made of fugar of mfes pearled, 

 TabelU magnanimitatis are a fort taken by feeble old men, 

 I wlien 



